


Laundry Day(See You There)

by dancinbutterfly



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Banter, Based on a deleted scene, But its just kissing, Fail!Tony, Jim Rhodes was always a competent mofo, Laundry, M/M, MIT Era, Mention of historic racial segregation, Rhodey is 18, Seriously Tony would be lost without him, Tony is 15, Underage Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:25:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5395697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancinbutterfly/pseuds/dancinbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>According to a deleted scene, Tony Stark has never done his own laundry before being kidnapped by the Ten Rings. How does a grown man reach that point in his life without doing laundry, especially one who went to college on his own? The answer is obviously Rhodey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laundry Day(See You There)

**Author's Note:**

> So, someone posted a [gif set of a deleted scene from the first Iron Man](http://iwantcupcakes.tumblr.com/post/47156327738/iron-man-2008-deleted-scene-tony-stark-does) wherein Tony does one of the Ten Rings guy's laundry and says he's never done laundry before. To which I was like - Excuse me? NEVER? I understand that he had servants and everything but at some point, he was dropped off at MIT and left to fend for himself, or at least that is the impression I got. I highly doubt Jarvis went with him to school. So then I was like "What if Rhodey helped? What if that's how he and Rhodey met - doing laundry?" and lo, this little mess is the result.

It’s a week before midterms(because he let that shit get out of control, you know he did) and fifteen year old Tony Stark is standing in front of a washing machine in a dingy dormitory basement frowning on campus at MIT, arms crossed over his skinny chest, muttering at it. 

He’s starting to get really animated in his demands of the laundry machine when Jim Rhodes comes in and stares at this little teenager talking to the machine with stack of laundry as tall as he is, talking to himself and asks “Are you supposed to be in here?”

And Tony goes “No one should be in here. This place is a soul destroying hellscape. But technically yes.”

“What are you trying to tell the washing machine, man?”

“I’m trying to tell it to do my laundry,” he says like that should be obvious. 

“How’s that working out for you?”

“Not great.”

“Do you know how to do laundry?”

Tony gets all flustered at that. Defensive. He’s like “You know, I built a robot before I hit double digits. It’s self-aware. I’m not stupid. In fact, I’m one of the smartest people I know.”

But Jim is not at all impressed because “You don’t do you?”

Tony deflates and his shoulders slump and he looks even younger. “No. Jarvis always did the laundry.”

“Look man, there are cycles. And you gotta separate your white from your dark loads.”

“Like segregation?” Tony pipes up all sarcastic and shit.

Jim is only a little amused because does this kid have no sense of self-preservation? Has he ever even talked to a black person before? It’s entirely possible that a kid with an actual for real servant hasn’t. That kind of cultural divide does exist, after all. “Don’t get cute with me unless you want all your white shirts to turn pink.”

“I can rock a pink shirt thank you very much.” He grins at Jim and its totally unintimidated, unlike before, when he was standing all cowed by the machine. Jim sighs and grabs a pair of pants off Tony’s mountain of clothes and throws it in the machine which is how he starts washing Tony’s clothes. 

They sit together while the machines cycle and they talk. When they’re done, Tony does all the folding to make up for his utter failure at running the machines themselves(the only piece of technology to ever best him). And it becomes a regular thing. Once a week, they get together and Jim does their laundry and Tony folds it. 

And suddenly they’re hanging out together all the time, not just to do laundry. 

Then one day, they’re folding an extra long twin sheet together, that way people do where they step towards each other to bring the corners together and Tony goes up on his toes and kisses Jim right on the mouth. 

“Is that okay, Rhodey?” he asks, because he started calling him Rhodey awhile ago and even though he’s too young and too rich and too smart and too everything, Jim finds himself nodding because somehow it is okay. They kiss again and get back to the laundry


End file.
